Six years is a long time to spend building a dungeon, especially when you’re doing it alone. That’s how long solo developer Brad Warren has spent bringing Sunken Realms to life, and there’s finally a date for when we’ll be able to descend into the whole thing. The action RPG dungeon crawler with roguelite elements launches on Steam on September 18, with a new trailer giving us another look at the rather unpleasant underground city waiting below.
More than 10,000 players have already wishlisted the game, which follows a son searching for answers about his missing father through a dungeon that rearranges itself every time you enter.
Considering everyone who enters Aedaria has a habit of not coming back, he’s certainly picked a difficult place to start looking.
Going Down Into Aedaria Is the Easy Part
Decades before Sunken Realms begins, the underground city of Aedaria was cursed by the gods and fell into darkness. It has remained largely untouched ever since, although stories of riches and whatever else might be hiding down there continue to attract adventurers willing to take their chances.
Alric has a considerably more personal reason for making the trip. His father entered the ruins years earlier looking for the truth and never returned, leaving Alric to eventually follow in his footsteps and find out what happened to him.
That search takes you through 109 hand-crafted rooms spread across six different sections. The rooms themselves have been individually designed, but they’re procedurally rearranged whenever you enter the dungeon, changing the route through Aedaria from one run to the next.
Whatever happened to Alric’s father, finding him isn’t going to involve following the same directions twice.
Swords, Spells, and Whatever You Can Carry Home
Once you’re underground, there’s plenty standing between you and the answers you’re looking for. Combat combines melee and ranged attacks, while forgotten spells give Alric access to more powerful magic as he ventures deeper into the ruins. Defeated enemies and treasure chests provide gold and crafting materials, although getting your hands on them is only particularly useful if you manage to make it back to the surface.
Returning to camp gives you a chance to put everything you collected to work. Weapons and armor can be crafted, potions brewed, food prepared, and your character upgraded through the Soul Forge. Once you’re ready to head back down, you can also increase the difficulty in exchange for tougher enemies and better loot.
Then it’s back into Aedaria to see how much further all that preparation gets you this time.
Six Years, One Developer
There’s quite a story behind Sunken Realms itself too. Warren has spent six years developing the game through his solo studio Magic Puncher Games, while also working full-time as an animator and developer on Star Atlas.
He points to Outward as the game that originally inspired him to create something of his own, particularly its sense of adventure and heading out into the unknown. Sunken Realms eventually went in its own direction, with Hades influencing its approach to storytelling and The Legend of Zelda helping inspire its sense of exploration.
That storytelling continues when you’re safely above ground. Between runs, a more personal story unfolds around the campfire between two friends, giving you something to come back to beyond another round of crafting and upgrades.
After six years of development, Sunken Realms launches on Steam on September 18, 2026. There’s also a free demo available now for anyone who wants to make an early trip underground.
With procedurally rearranged dungeons, persistent upgrades, crafting, escalating difficulty, and a mystery pulling you deeper each time, Aedaria looks like the kind of place we’ll be seeing quite a lot of.